Ep. 46 - "The Summer 2025 Download: What Every Experience Pro Needs to Know"

From concert-fueled economies to cybersecurity chaos and legal bombshells shaking the venue world—this July was anything but quiet. In this episode, we break down the biggest current events impacting travel, ticketing, and live experiences right now. Whether you're planning Q3 campaigns, pitching new partnerships, or just trying to stay ahead of what’s driving fan and traveler behavior, this is your go-to summer recap.

We cover:

• The rise of shoulder season travel and why Europe in September is outperforming July

• Airline cyber attacks and the growing importance of digital resilience

• Music tourism's billion-dollar impact from Coldplay to Blackpink

• Backstreet Boys at the Sphere and the future of immersive residencies

• Formula 1’s global takeover and luxury fan travel

• JW Roth’s bold new venue model with VENU

• The OVG antitrust indictment and what it means for arena deals going forward

If you work in tickets, travel, or the experience economy, this episode is packed with insights you need—plus trends that will shape the rest of 2025.

Listen now at www.tttpod.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow us @Tix2Travel for updates, guest announcements, and more.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey there, travel Pros, ticket Warriors, hospitality leaders, and live event architects. Welcome back to Tickets to Travel, the Business of Travel Experiences. I'm your host, Mario DeWine, and this episode marks a huge milestone for tickets to travel. We've officially crossed 110,000 downloads. Across 46 episodes.

(00:01):
That's right. It's kind of mind blowing, but what started out as a show for Curious Industry insiders has grown into a global community that spans tour managers, tech founders, travel planners, venue developers, and many, many more of you who are just interested in tickets and travel. Thank you for being a part of all of this.
Whether you're streaming this from your corner office, a rental van, outside a festival, or a security line at JFK, this podcast is for you. So can't thank you enough. Very grateful for the opportunity to bring our voice. To all of those who look for this type of content. So today we are bringing you a summer 2025 wrap up.
It's not really a wrap up. It's, you know, it's July, but there's just so much going on, so many things to cover, like the biggest shifts, surprises, and stories across travel, ticketing, and live experiences. Just in time for your Q3 planning. And pitch decks. So get ready. Here's what's lined up. We'll start with the rise of shoulder season travel and why Europe in September is now outperforming July.
Then we'll dive into cybersecurity, chaos in the skies and what June's airline meltdowns mean for the traveler experience. You'll hear how concerts like Oasis, Coldplay, and Black Pink are turning cities into billion dollar pop-up economies. We'll break down the latest immersive residencies at Las Vegas's Sphere.
Explore the high impact of sports travel around FIFA's Club World Cup and MLBs Allstar weekend and look at how the startup venue led by JW Roth is reinventing the luxury venue game from Colorado Springs to the southeast.
And yes, there's a big legal subplot too. We'll unpack the federal indictment of Oakview groups, Tim Lewicki, and what it could mean for how future arenas and partnerships are built. It's been a big month, so let's get into it.
Shoulder season travel, a smarter strategy for 2025 what was once a fringe idea is now mainstream shoulder seasons have officially overtaken peak summer months as travelers favor European travel window in trepid travel. One of the world's largest experiential tour operators recently revealed that 55% of their European bookings in 2025 landed in April, may or September, overtaking traditional June to August travel in Europe and it gets even more dramatic. Portuguese shoulder season bookings now represent a whopping 64% while Italy's has soared 166% year over year with peak season travel down 72%. Here's why. Heat and over tourism have peaked. Southern Europe suffered record breaking temperatures this June. Think 46 degrees Celsius in Portugal. Triggering health warnings and mass tourist protests.
If any of you have vacationed in Europe during the summertime, I always sort of sat there and said, why? Why would you do this to yourself? There's no air conditioning anywhere, and there's lines and it's hot. It's like going to Disney World in the middle of the summer, which, you know, no offense to Disney.
It's not fun. So not really a shock that this new trend , has shifted.
Another reason. Cost sensitive travelers with rising travel costs. More people are choosing milder months that offer both affordability and better availability. Makes sense to me. Local support and small group travel tour operators are redesigning trips shifting to evening visits at sites, small group experiences, and promoting less trafficked locales.
Similar to what John Sgma was talking about in our episode about lost in travel. It's the off the beaten path. Most people have already been to a lot of these major destinations, but where else can you go? What's gonna stand out? What's gonna be different than a normal vacation to let's say Paris or Milan?
You want to get that shareable, interesting content, and I think that these takeaways are reflecting that from a travel professional standpoint, this shift is a game changer. It's your chance to craft high value Off season offers Mediterranean hikes on cooler mornings, wine tastings and empty keis Cellars.
Spa stays without lines. Instead of competing for inflated rates during July's Insanity, early bird summer, inventory
spring and fall escapes Sign me up. That makes just way more sense.
Next up airline cyber disruptions. June taught us a hard truth. Chaos can come from code not clouds. The cybersecurity group scattered spider, the same outfit behind the Uber MGM and government email hacks turned its lens on aviation, hitting Hawaiian airlines and WestJet with disruptive breaches westJet publicly confirmed internal outages. Hawaiian quietly acknowledged it damage impacting reservations, though flights continued unaffected.
Needless to say, the result was passenger frustration and operational mayhem. Call centers offline, mobile apps failing, delayed bookings, and the most cringe worthy moment Hawaiian issuing its statement via a Gmail account. More concerning this isn't an isolated incident.
Axios highlighted how scattered spider is zeroing in on transportation and logistics, turning vacation planning systems into cyber targets. The FBI is now treating aviation as an active crime domain. Travel pros, take note. Resiliency isn't optional. Here's what to act on now. Mandate cyber due diligence from partners.
Ask your suppliers about MFA third party risk scanning and incident response plans. Invest in communication playbooks, schedule, automatic traveler updates, create hotlines and build FAQs and status webpages into your itinerary packages include buffer clauses for tech downtime.
In contracts. Call it digital disruption insurance. The bottom line travelers may not feel infrastructural headaches, but they definitely see delayed bookings it squarely lands on the brand that booked it for them.
So keep all of these things in mind as hackers and cybersecurity concerns may become more commonplace when it comes to travel and entertainment. Let's shift gears a little bit to music, tourism, meeting, economic power. Just a quick note, but if you think concerts are just a ticket sale, you're missing a tsunami.
Scotland alone expects $324 million or pounds, sorry. In concert travel revenue. This year, oasis. Back Reunited is bringing in nearly 80 million pounds from Edinburgh gigs. Add Coldplay ecotourism hotspots in Nordic countries, and you have a travel playbook built on playlists.

(00:22):
With that said, let's talk a little bit about Las Vegas and know not just the buffet lines and blackjack tables. I'm talking about the sphere, which continues to redefine what we even mean when we say venue. It's not just a place you go to see a show, it's where your senses go to be hijacked in high resolution.
Now entering its second summer, the sphere has officially cemented its place in the travel experience economy. This isn't a gimmick. It's 17,600 seats of immersive storytelling and a 580,000 square foot LED canvas, wrapping you in 16 K visuals, directional sound that feels like it's whispering into your soul, and a venue layout that has more in common with a spaceship than a traditional concert hall.
And right now it's the Backstreet Boys. It's Backstreet and they're back. Not just in the name but in the surround sound spectacle. The Backstreet Boys into the Millennium Residency is running weekends through late August, and it's doing more than just tugging on Y 2K nostalgia. It's a masterclass in how to blend Pop legacy with future forward production.
Each show is packed with 25 songs including deep cuts, B-side favorites, and a few emotional ballads. And of course they're anthems like larger than life, and I want it that way. Delivered not just with harmonies, but with synchronized visual effects. And 360 motion reactive staging that makes every seat feel like it's front row.
Ticket prices started in the $115 range and surge, depending on availability, but last minute inventory is now dipping to the mid a hundred and thirties. A sweet spot for fans looking for value inside one of the most advanced entertainment environments ever built. Anecdotally,
one fan described the finale as so emotionally overwhelming that I forgot I was in Las Vegas and thought I had ascended. Honestly, that's the sphere for you and for travel sellers, this is where the real opportunity lies. We're not just talking about a show, we're talking about destination packaging, premium hotel partnerships
pre-show Dining Backstage, tour add-ons, branded merchandise, bundles, and post-show spa treatments, VIP Lounge access. It's not just a concert, it's a curated trip. And with upcoming Sphere residencies from Chase and status, Zack Brown Band and another Legacy Act yet to be announced. Rumors are swirling. The product is evergreen.
Travelers will fly across the country or the world. For experiences like this, the key is to build the right bundle and meet them where they are emotional, excited and ready to spend.
Now let's talk a little bit about sports travel from Club World Cup to Formula One, summer's biggest movers. Now let's pivot from those harmonies to horsepower. It's been a huge month for sports travel, and it's not just about fifa. Yes, the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup hosted across the US delivered serious impact.
9.6 billion in estimated tourism spend, surging hotel rates and fans flooding New York, la, and Atlanta in numbers. Usually reserved for political conventions or Taylor Swift tours, but we also saw another standout formula One. In the UK where the British Grand Prix at Silverstone brought in over 400,000 attendees over the race weekend.
That number doesn't just make it the biggest F1 event this year. It puts it on par with global mega events in terms of ticketing scale and tourism significance, hotels were sold out across North Hampton Shire. Restaurants booked weeks in advance and private transfers into the circuit.
Were operating at full throttle, literally, and this isn't a one-off for fans and travel planners. The F1 calendar is now a global tourism roadmap
coming up in just a few weeks, we've got spa for fork hums in Belgium. One of the most picturesque circuits on the calendar in September, F1 returns to Monza Italy where Motorsport tradition and Milanese luxury collide. And of course, all eyes are already on Singapore, September 21st and Las Vegas in November, which promises to be a wild intersection of neon night racing
and niche hospitality packages priced north of $10,000 per person. For travel professionals, the takeaway is simple. F1 fans don't just attend races, they curate journeys. The target audience is high spending, experience driven, and increasingly international. Think private paddocks tours meet and greets with drivers pre-race, yacht cocktails in Monaco or supercar rental packages tied to the weekend.
The smartest brands in travel are already locking down allocations, securing early access partnerships, and developing VIP itineraries around Grand Prix weekends. If you're not in the F1 conversation yet, you're already behind the curve. But wait, there's more sports travel delivered fireworks in this month, the FIFA Club World Cup hosted across the US cities brought in a staggering 9.6 billion in tourism spend.
Hotel rooms rates jumped 45 to 74%, but hold on visa delays and CBP gatekeeping kept a chunk of international fans grounded. One UK supported joke that immigration checks felt like tougher defenders than the sport itself. At the same time, MLB is All-Star Game in Atlanta.
Set Airbnb and rooftop bars booking a Blaze Hotel occupancy search. 500% year over year, whether it's soccer or baseball, premium events or magnets. And they're demanding travel professionals to step up their games to include stadium side experiences in all of their offerings. From Vegas to Seoul, black Pink's deadline tour is rewriting playbooks again
after LA's a hundred thousand strong stadium show, Bangkok stopped. Generated an estimated 900 million in tourism impact in Seoul. Fans camped out for 48 hours pre-show with literal survival kits, snacks, portable chargers, fan trivia, and more.
This is Travel plus community chemistry. Imagine building trip packages that include merch, pre drops, beauty lounge, access group, table service, and even fan shuttle services. This isn't fandom, it's a movement and your sellable product. Travel pros.
Let's talk a little bit about venues. New ones Enter Venue without the e. Founded by Fan first vendor in JW Roth. This brand new hospitality and venue startup is going live venue builds luxury multi venue campuses like the Ford Amphitheater in Colorado Springs and they partner Tier Alliance with Aramark and Billboard.
All with a fan founded, fan owned model. Each venue includes upscale concepts like luxe, fire suites, private clubs, and onsite high-end food and beverage offerings. And they're just beginning venues in Oklahoma, Texas and Georgia are launching into 2026. What's Roth's goal to combine real estate, hospitality, and community in a venue product that's built with fans in mind.

(00:43):
Fans can even buy fractional ownership in fire pit suites. It's a bold fusion of property purpose and premium, and frankly, we need more of this disruptive thinking in live event travel. We're gonna close today's episode with a story that isn't flashy, but could quietly shape the future of how the live event industry does business, particularly in North America On July 9th, Tim Lewicki, co-founder and CEO of Oakview Group, OVG, as it's known,
was indicted by the US Department of Justice for allegedly conspiring to rig the bidding process for a publicly funded arena project in Texas. The charges claim LU Wiki and executives at OVG coordinated with competitors to manipulate bids, eliminate competition, and secure venue contracts through unfair means.
A direct violation of federal antitrust laws if convicted Lu Wiki could face up to 10 years in federal prison. And OVG has already agreed to pay 15. Million dollars in fines. Another company allegedly involved legends hospitality will pay a separate $1.5 million fine. This is no slap on the wrist. These are serious consequences for two of the most powerful players in venue management and sports entertainment infrastructures.
For context, oVG is the powerhouse behind climate pledge arena in Seattle, Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, and more than a dozen other premium live event venues. They partner with sports teams, municipalities, and content rights holders across the country.
Until now, OBG has been considered one of the only legitimate competitors to the Live Nation Ticket Master Duopoly and Le Wiki was the architect of that challenger brand. Which brings us to the big question, what now? This case has a major implication on the live events ecosystem. First, it calls into question the transparency and ethics of public-private partnerships.
Venue development. As cities and states increasingly compete to attract sports teams and premium content, the bidding process for arenas has become a high stakes game, and now a very public liability. Second, it puts pressure on Live Nation who, despite not being named in this case, will now face renewed scrutiny over its relationship with venues, promoters, and municipalities.
If oVG is under a federal microscope. It's only a matter of time before others are too. And third, it forces the industry, especially those of us in travel ticketing and experience design, to rethink how we align with venues who we trust with distribution access, and whether consolidation has created too much opacity for a healthy marketplace for agents, operators, and partners working in cities where the arenas are in development.
This is a wake up call. Expect stricter compliance procedures, more transparency and procurement, and a growing divide between those who play by the rules and those who quietly don't. We'll be watching this case closely and we'll report back as the legal process unfolds. So what did we learn this month, July 20, 25?
Time is flying, isn't it? We saw summer travel pivot towards the shoulder season driven by smarter travelers looking for less sweat, less crowding, and let's be honest, less chaos. Airline disruptions reminded us that. Tech resilience and crisis communications are as critical as flight schedules in the world of entertainment.
We saw how music tourism is now an economic force with acts like Oasis, Coldplay, and Black Pink generating hundreds of millions in destination revenue. We took a full tour through the sphere where the Backstreet Boys residency proves that immersive tech can turn nostalgia. Into a future forward global package travel product in sports, the FIFA Club World Cup and the British Grand Prix at Silverstone Set attendance and tourism records while F one's Global Calendar continues to serve as a luxury travel blueprint.
Every city is now a host. Every race is a tent pole event, and every fan is a potential VIP traveler. We spotlighted the launch of venue JW Russ, ambitious entry into the luxury venue space, blending live entertainment, private hospitality, and ownership models in the ways that could change how fans experience shows and how investors view live event real estate.
And we finish with a tough but necessary. Look at the federal indictment of Tim Lewicki and OVGA legal milestone that could reshape how our industry does business behind the scenes. Because as much as we love the front of the house, the lights, the music, the spectacle, it's what happens backstage in boardrooms and bid documents that determine how fair, accessible, and sustainable this ecosystem really is.
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